1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a hand or finger manipulatable, e.g. trigger, sprayer with a check valve therein and more specifically to a sprayer of the type which is mounted to the top of a container of liquid and which has a central element, such as a trigger, which can be depressed or squeezed to cause pumping and dispensing of liquid from a nozzle of the sprayer and wherein the check valve includes a conical skirt shaped or umbrella shaped valve member.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Trigger sprayers with adjustable multi-purpose nozzle assemblies are disclosed in the Quinn et al U.S. Pat. No. 4,234,128 and the Micallef U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,843,030 and 3,967,765.
Other adjustable or removable nozzles are disclosed in the Shay U.S. Pat. No. 4,313,568, the Reeve U.S. Pat. No. 4,204,614 and the Pauls et al U.S. Pat. No. 4,241,853.
Liquid dispensers utilizing upper and lower inline ball type check valves are disclosed in the Cooprider U.S. Pat. No. 3,062,416, the Hammett et al U.S. Pat. No. 4,222,501, and the Ford et al U.S. Pat. No. 4,340,158.
Other dispensers using two ball type check valves are disclosed in the Pasteur French Patent No. 1,333,491 and in the Davis U.S. Pat. No. 2,699,271.
A seating and retaining structure on the back side of a trigger handle for the forward end of a plunger or piston in a triggers prayer are disclosed in the Tada U.S. Pat. No. 4,153,203 and in the Cary et al U.S. Pat. No. 4,260,079.
Other types of plunger-trigger handle couplings are disclosed in the Tyler U.S. Pat. No. 3,061,202, the Malone U.S. Pat. No. 3,650,473, the Vanier U.S. Pat. No. 3,685,739 and the Steyns et al U.S. Pat. No. 4,072,252.
Guide pins, rods or posts for a biasing spring in a trigger sprayer are disclosed in the Tyler U.S. Pat. No. 3,061,202, the Tada U.S. Pat. No. 3,701,478, the Tada U.S. Pat. No. 3,770,206, the Maline U.S. Pat. No. 3,650,473, the Vanier U.S. Pat. No. 3,685,739 and the Steyns et al U.S. Pat. No. 4,072,252.
Venting of a bottle on a pumping stroke in a trigger sprayer without affecting the seal between a sprayer cap and the bottle is disclosed in the Steyns et at U.S. Pat. No. 4,072,252.
Eccentric or off-center mounting of a dip tube in a trigger sprayer is disclosed in the Grogan U.S. Pat. No. 4,138,038, the Blake U.S. Pat. No. 4,155,487 and the Reeve U.S. Pat. No. 4,204,614.
Furthermore various flap type valves have been proposed for use in trigger sprayers. Examples of such flap type valves are disclosed in the Miller U.S. Pat. No. 3,130,871, the Humphrey U.S. Pat. No. 3,486,663, the Davidson et al U.S. Pat. No. 3,726,442, the Micallef U.S. Pat. No. 3,749,290, the Schmidt et al U.S. Pat. No. 3,973,700, the Grogan U.S. Pat. No. 3,986,644, the Cooprider et al U.S. Pat. No. 3,987,938, the Cooprider et al U.S. Pat. No. 3,995,774, the Alef U.S. Pat. No. 4,201,317 and the Blake et al U.S. Pat. No. 4,225,061.
Also, an O-ring type valve is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,768,734.
Although non-analogus art, it is noted that it has been proposed to use a conical skirt shaped valve in a fluid check valve for general use. See, for example, Kersh U.S. Pat. No. 2,912,999, the Roberts U.S. Pat. No. 2,913,000 and the Moore Jr. et al U.S. Pat. No. 2,949,929.
As will be described in greater detail hereinafter the hand manipulatable sprayer of the present invention differs from the previously proposed trigger sprayers having flap type valves and O-ring type valves therein by providing a simple, inexpensive plastic valve element which has a frusto-conical skirt or umbrella-like configuration that frictionally and sealingly engages with a cylindrical wall of a bore in a body of a sprayer and which is deflectable radially inwardly by fluid pressure so as to allow the pressurized fluid to pass around the skirt or umbrella-like configuration and downstream of the check valve during pumping of the sprayer.